饥肠辘辘

jī cháng lù lù

so hungry your stomach rumbles; famished

Character by character

饥jī
hungry

肠cháng
gut

辘lù
rumble

爬了一上午山，大家都饥肠辘辘，一到山顶就打开了饭盒。

After a morning’s climb everyone was starving, and the lunch boxes came out the moment we reached the top.

Tone: neutral.

辘辘 is the rumble of cart wheels, here an empty stomach. Written and storytelling style; in speech people say 饿死了 or 肚子咕咕叫.

Learn this in Lesson 11 · HSK 5: 过早：一天从早餐开始 (Breakfast, city by city)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.